LOOP '07 - The international video art fair
May 31 - Jun 2, 2007

Presented artist:
Stefan Panhans

GLOW 2006, loop (12:35 min)

The woman we see portrayed in an endless, very special kind of "one-level" work-out on a crosstrainer in Stefan Panhans' most recent video "Glow", 2006 performs strange, adventurous manoeuvres which are reminiscent of video games, as if the woman were to keep evading invisible approaching flying objects. She seams strangely overdressed and over-equipped with her freshly washed and perfectly styled hair, her stylish fitness outfit, totally perfect make up, heart rate monitor and - last but not least - backpack with drinking system. In addition, she is engaged in an alienated, whispered, mysterious inner monologue that constantly swells and subsides, and from which we can only make out a few word fragments. There is a mark on her shoulder that looks like a large bruise. The unfocussed background reminds one both of a nursery and warehouse and is "framed" by flags of different nations.

"Glow" is constructed as a video loop and combines, in a subtle and ironic manner, stylistic patterns of performance and theatre with elements from trashy fantasy-films and computer games. The soundtrack reinforces the internalized repertoire of dramatic forms. It mixes Ennio Morricone and other quotations of Westerns with an almost esoteric, spherical synthesizer, heightens the suspense yet without reaching the climax we are familiar with from the usual cinematic narrative structures. The soundtrack counteracts the overall mood in an ambivalent way, adding to the uncanny feeling that arises if we view the work a little longer

"Glow" is the third of a series of five video works, planned in collaboration with the actress Lisa Marie Janke (previous videos: "Pool", 2004, "Sieben bis Zehn Millionen" (Seven up to ten million), 2005).

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